Katie Pruitt's love letter to the LGBTQ community

This Pride Month, Billboard asked artists to write a series of love letters to their LGBTQ fans, highlighting what the community means to them as people and as artists. Below, Katie Pruitt affirms the community's “hard-earned” pride, celebrating the collection's “bleeding heart for the underdog and zero tolerance for bigotry.”

If you're anything like me, “Pride” in your identity is hard-earned. Whether that battle was internal, external, or both, you've come this far and I'm so proud of you. Most of us are bound by the isolating and traumatic feeling of being shut out in a largely heteronormative world, and we remember to think deeply about how our lives will change once we muster the courage to say those irreversible words: “I'm gay . ”

Because as liberating as those words are, they're also loaded with a whole new list of challenges, uncertainties, and questions. And even though you would never “go back” to a time when you had to hide, this new visibility can be so overwhelming. Your personal life suddenly pops up for your friends and family to pitch in and give their two cents.

It is these particular challenges that make it necessary for us to seek comfort in our queer community. We intentionally seek out and create safe spaces to go when we want to feel seen and understood. Even then, we must be mindful of the possibility of becoming the victim of taunting or god forbid another hate crime.

Somewhere along your journey, I'm sure you had to dig deep for the resilience needed to keep going. You must not only embrace your differences but use them to your advantage. You know exactly what it's like to be “other” and for that reason, you have a bleeding heart for the underdog and zero tolerance for bigotry.

So, no matter how “hard-won” your pride in identity is, all of these impossible milestones have made you the wild, self-loving, likable, compassionate person you are today, and THAT is something to be proud of. you should be proud.

love your friend
Katie Pruitt